Packing for fragile articles



July 17, 1934. L. MANN PACKING FOR FRAGILE ARTICLES Filed March 12, 19302 Sheets-Sheet l Elvwemtoz July 17, 1934. 1.. MANN PACKING FOR FRAGILEARTICLES Filed March 12, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 avwemtoz Patented July17, 1934 UNETED STATES PATENT OFFICE PACKKNG FOE FRAGILE ARTICLESApplication March 12, 1930, Serial No. 435,094

6 Claims.

The present improvements relate, in general to. packing for fragilearticles and more particularly, to an improved holder for articles suchas bottles and the like.

A primary object, among others, of the im provements, is to provide anarticle holder in the form of a tray which is automatically adjustableto accommodate articles of varied sizes. A further object is to providean improved tray which is resilient and which will exert a grippingaction on the packed articles, tending to hold them in place and againstWabbling.

Another object is to provide a filler for an outer carton, wherein saidfiller is oversize for being compressed within the carton. A stillfurther object is to provide an improved packing for bottles. whereinthe receiving portions are oversize for accomplishing a plurality ofpurposes.

To provide an improved cushioning means for j bottles constitutes afurther object of the improvements. Other objects and advantages of theimprovements will be apparent upon reference to the accompanyingspecification and drawings in which Fig. 1 is a perspective of a cartonwith one form of the improvements disposed therein;

Fig. 2 is a section of the improved filler-tray;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 -3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of a portion of one embodiment of theimprovements;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged diagrammatic view of a portion of the tray;

Fig. 6 is a section of an actual size recess of the tray, having a fullsize ginger ale bottle therein;

Fig. 7 is a section of a modified form;

I Fig. 8 is a section on line 8-8 of Fig. '1;

Figs. 9 and 10 are sections of other modified forms. I

Although the embodiments of the present improvements may be manufacturedin any desired manner, they are preferably made of resilient material,such as pulp fibr s, by the pulp sucking or felting process. In thismanner the entire holder or filler, as well as all parts thereof, arecreated complete in one operation. Accordingly, the holder and preformedparts thereof are relatively rigid, but possesses inherent resiliencyand elasticity so as to be readily expansible and compressible. Thesequalities not only contribute a cushioning effect but also, in thepresent improvel .ents, provide adjustability as will hereinafterappear.

The present invention is in the nature of an improvement on theconstruction described and (Cl. 217-2l) claimed in my prior Patent#1309559, filed December 14, 1927 and granted June 9, 1931.

Referring to the drawings, the embodiment chosen for illustrationcomprises a tray 15 having a series of bottle-shaped depressions or re-0 cesses 16, which are adapted to receive bottles in reclining position.Said recesses or pockets are preformed with the tray, at the time ofmanufacture, and have alternate neck and body portions for conforming tothe contour of such articles. While this form of the invention isparticularly adapted for packing bottles, it is obvious that other typesof article-conforming recesses may be provided to suit the nature andshape of the merchandise.

Referring more particularly to the recesses 16, it is notable that theyare deeper than a half bottle section. In Figs. 3, 5 and 6, thehorizontal dotted line represents the horizontal medial line of thebottles when they rest in the recesses or pockets. It is therefore seenthat the upper wall portions, defining the recess mouth, extend abovethe medial line of the bottle. Likewise, upon inspection of Fig. 6, itis apparent that the recess is normally larger or Wider at the upper ormouth so portion, than the bottle diameter. In thisfigure, the portionof the tray is illustrated in its normal state, i. e., before insertionin a surrounding carton, while the bottle B resting therein is actualsize.

The pockets or recesses 16 also extend substantially the width of thetray and are somewhat longer than the bottles to be packed. Thisprovision permits the bottles to be staggered or slightly offset withrespect to one another (Fig. 1) so that their shoulders are slightlyspaced, well cushioned and protected by the shoulder portions 1'7 of therecesses.

Due to the taper of the bottle from its body portion, through theshoulder portion to the neck portion Where its diameter is materiallyless, it is evident that the shoulder and neck portions of the pocket orrecess will be deeper than the cor-' responding half sections of thebottle at these points. In fact, since the bottle tapers away, but theridges 18 are in the same horizontal plane from tray edge to tray edge,the shoulder and neck portions of the recesses are almost equal to thediameters of these portions of the bottle, and in some instances theneck portions of the recesses will be deeper than the diameter of thebottle neck. Furthermore, the curvature of the shoulder portion 17 ofthe recess from the body to the neck is gradual, and is less sharp thanthe curvature of the bottle shoulder, so that slight movement of therecess walls at this point for approaching the bottle shoulder ispermitted. The recesses 16 may be closed at one or both ends 19 and 20,which not only retain the bottles in position, but also serve ascushions or buffers for protecting the bottles from end pressures andshocks. The ends of the tray may be provided with cushion flaps 21having integral protuberances 22 for cushioning the tray at thesepoints. Closed ends 20 may be omitted, if desired.

Upon reference to Figs. 1 to 3, the greater size of the tray 15 incomparison to the carton 25 is illustrated. This oversize of the tray isonly of the dimension laterally of the recesses or substantially atright angles to their longitudinal extent. Accordingly, the tray must becontracted or compressed in order to insert it in the carton 25 ofsmaller dimension. Such contraction of the tray, automatically causesthe elements thereof to shift position. Thisnecessary adjustment of thetray so that it can be disposed in the smaller dimension carton,obviously oompels a slight lateral transposition of the recesses. InFig. 5, the full and dotted lines diagrammatically illustrate thisshifting of the position of the recesses as well as the altered shapethereof attending the compression of the tray. The relative sizes of thetray 15 and carton 25 may be varied, depending on the degree ofadjustability and size of pockets desired.

As seen in dotted lines in Fig. 5 and also in Fig. 3, the attenuation ofthe tray causes adjacent pocket walls to approach one another, therebymore nearly defining a half bottle shape while the upper walls of thepockets are closer and may curve or extend inwardly a slight degree atand above the horizontal medial line of the bottles to be received.Portions of the mouths of the recesses, when the tray is in the carton(Fig. 3), therefore are slightly less than the diameter of the bottles.Accordingly, when inserting the bottles, these mouth portions yield topermit reception of the bottle, but return again after the lower half ofthe bottle is in the recess, and close in on each side about portions ofthe upper half thereof. The bottle is thus yieldingly held in the pocketin gripping relation and is prevented from wabbling or other minormovements.

Due to the alternate neck and body arrangement of the tray and itsability to readily lend itself to adjustment, it is obvious that twoneck portions on each side of a body portion may be further reduced bythe insertion of a bottle, so that when part or all of the tray isfilled, the bottles are nicely gripped and cushioned as seen in Fig. 3.

Experience as well as repeated experiments disclose that breakage is duenot so much to contact by the bottle with external agencies as to mutualcontact as between the bottles themselves. Likewise, in the majority ofinstances, the bottles are broken at the shoulders or necks which areusually the weaker portions thereof. Accordingly, the presentimprovements are developed to minimize breakage, especially at suchareas. In the contraction of the tray, the shoulder portions of therecesses are free to approach the bottles and serve to grip and doublycushion the shoulders thereof. Furthermore, since the recesses arelonger than the bottles, the latter are staggered slightly whichdisposition contributes to the cushioning and protecting features at theshoulder portions.

It is notable that when bottles are reclined,

the liquid contents seek their own level so that the air space iscommonly disposed at A (Fig. 1). Where the contents are carbonated, as,for ex ample, in ginger ale, occasional shaking of the bottle liberatesthe gas into air space A, creating a pressure adjacent the bottleshoulder. The strain on the bottle at these points is minimized and theliability of breakage decreased by the aforementioned shoulderprotection as well as by the gripping action of the pocket and theclosed ends 19, 20, thereof, all of which contribute to cushion shocksand prevent shaking or jars which may set up pressure in area A. It iswell known that such internal pressure, set up by shaking the bottle,may force out or loosen the cork or cap, with attendant loss of thecontents. Such a possibility is eliminated also, during shipment, by thedescribed functions of the improvements.

Due to the adjustability of the individual pockets and the tray filleras a whole, one size of filler may serve for a plurality of differentsized outer cartons. Furthermore, one size filler is suflicient, withinprescribed limits, to accommodate bottles of varying size. It is notablealso that the smaller the bottle, the smaller the carton and pockets ofthe filler when the tray is compressed into the carton.

For purposes of display, the improved tray may act as a support tosustain the bottles inclined to the horizontal. Without removing thebottles from the tray or carton, their necks may be canted upwardly, sothat the pocket walls approach one another beneath the shoulder and forma support therefor.

Referring to Figs. 7 and 8, the bottom neck portions of the recesses maybe provided with a protuberance 26 of any desired shape or form, so asto function as a leg for such portion and prevent it from beingdepressed below its prescribed level.

In Figs. 9 and 10, complete bottle cartons are illustrated. In Fig. 9,the body portion 33 has pockets more than half bottle size while thecover 34 has complementary pockets of less that than half bottle size.The embodiment in Fig. 10, illustrates the body portion 35 with fullbottle size pockets, with a fiat cover 36. These cartons may be suitablylabeled or stamped to indicate the contents.

Provision is preferably made for the carriage of three bottles, whichmakes a neat and handy parcel. However, the number of pockets may beincreased or decreased in these, as well as in any of the embodiments,without departing from the scope of the improvements.

It is understood that the improvements may be designed and adapted forpacking other merchandise, and are therefore not limited to theembodiments selected for illustration and description.

I claim:

1. A device of the character described comprising a tray formed ofresilient material, said tray having a plurality of bottle shapedrecesses adapted to receive bottles in reclined position, said recessesbeing deeper than the half section of a bottle and having mouths widerthan the diameter of the bottles to be packed.

2. A self-adjustable tray formed of relatively yieldable material, saidtray having a plurality of preformed elongated article conformingrecesses, said recesses having mouth-defining walls extending above thehorizontal medial line of the articles to be received therein, wherebycompression of said tray in a direction across said recesses will bringsaid walls closer together.

3. The combination with a packing carton, of a normally oversizenon-foldable filler therefor comprising a tray of relatively yieldablematerial having one dimension normally greater than the correspondingdimension of the carton, said tray having elongated article conformingrecesses disposed substantially at right angles to the said greaterdimension each recess extending over half the width of the lesserdimension, said tray being compressible in the direction of said greaterdimension for disposal in said carton whereby the areas defined by saidrecesses are altered.

4. The combination with a packing carton, of a normally oversize fillertherefor comprising a tray of relatively yieldable material, said trayconsisting of bottle-shaped depressions substantially traversing thetray, said depressions being deeper than a half bottle section, saidtray being oversize only laterally of said depressions, wherebyinsertion of said tray in the carton will contract the tray anddepressions thereof for holding bottles in gripping relation.

5. In a resilient packing tray for fragile articles, an individualarticle compartment comprising an elongated recess adapted to have anarticle inserted laterally therein, said recess having a depth slightlygreater than half the diameter of the article and a mouth wider than thediameter of the article, the arrangement being such that the sides ofthe recess defining the mouth are adapted to be moved inwardly about aportion of the upper half of the article.

6. A performed tray of relatively yielding moulded pulp material havinga plurality of elongated recesses adapted to receive fragile articles ina reclining position, the depth of said recesses, when the tray ispositioned within a carton, being suificient to snugly accommodate thelower half of packed articles, portions of the peripheral edges of suchrecesses exerting a gripping action on said articles for yieldinglyretaining them within the recesses.

LEON MANN.

